


Marked

by Nightwang



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Branding, Coercion, Gen, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt No Comfort, Prompt: Branding, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightwang/pseuds/Nightwang
Summary: "Deathstroke stepped back in front of him, smile dark and slick. Like oil. Dick wanted to get up and run, to fight back. But he couldn’t, not when his friends’ lives hung in the balance."For the prompt "Branding" for the Bad Things Happen Bingo
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571617
Comments: 4
Kudos: 70





	Marked

It had been a month. A month of stealing, of fighting his friends, of betraying everything he stood for. A month of Slade.

Dick hated him. Hated this. He stood at attention before Slade, seething quietly whilst the older man made him wait. He shifted his weight, ever so slightly, and the mercenary’s eye snapped to him. A dark look on his face.

He stood slowly, watching Dick like a predator, muscles coiled. He prowled closer until he was looming over Dick, making him tilt his head back to keep eye contact.

“You’ve been good for me these past couple of weeks,” he purred softly. Dick’s jaw clenched. He’d had to be _good _. Slade was threatening his friends, his team.__

__Slade looked amused, like he knew what Dick was thinking. He had to bite down hard on his tongue not to say something he knew he’d regret._ _

__“I think you deserve a reward,” Slade said, his tone low. Smug. Dick’s stomach flipped unpleasantly. Deathstroke didn’t _do _rewards. Not ones that Dick was going to enjoy anyway.___ _

____“Get on your knees,” Slade growled, and then before Dick could even begin to obey, he was kicking his feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor. He pulled him to kneeling roughly, hand tight in his hair._ _ _ _

____Teeth bared, Dick couldn’t help but snarl up at Slade for the harsh treatment, feeling off balance and weirdly vulnerable in this position. Slade slapped him, but he didn’t look particularly angry. He looked...almost excited._ _ _ _

____“I think it’s time we made this more _permanent _, hmm? What do you think?”___ _ _ _

______What did he mean by that? Dick was already working for him, was wearing his colours, his uniform, the threat of his friends’ lives hanging over him._ _ _ _ _ _

______Deathstroke let him go, turning his back to walk over to an area that had been blocked off previously with a sliding wall. Slade pushed it aside, turning to, presumably, watch Dick’s reaction._ _ _ _ _ _

______Dick was just confused. There was a fire pit of some kind, the coals glowing red. Slade reached down and pulled a long metal stick out of the fire._ _ _ _ _ _

______Dick’s stomach dropped. It was a _brand_. It was a fucking cattle brand. He made to stand up but Deathstroke shot him a dark look, promising murder with his eye, the threat of the trigger ever present. The brand was glowing red hot, overheated, in the shape of an S._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No,” he croaked as Deathstroke stepped back in front of him, smile dark and slick. Like oil. Dick wanted to get up and run, to fight back. But he couldn’t, not when his friends’ lives hung in the balance._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Please don’t,” he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t do this, couldn’t be branded, _marked _like cattle. He could feel the heat of it already, even without it touching him, burning against his skin.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Slade smiled down at him, deceptively gentle. His free hand came up to cradle his cheek._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Robin,” he purred, voice low and intimate. Dick hated the way he said his name. Familiar. Like they were old friends. “You wouldn’t be arguing with me would you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He pulled his hand back and flicked the trigger out, thumb poised dangerously over the button. Dick grit his teeth hard, grinding his retort to bits. Slade smirked, put the trigger away, and then his fingers were digging into his jaw harshly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Dick jerked back instinctively but Slade’s grip was like iron, forcing his head still as he loomed over him. Panic flared in his chest, bright and suffocating. Eyes wide, he stared up at the mercenary._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I would hold still if I were you,” was all the warning he gave before he pressed the brand into his cheek._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________For a moment Dick couldn’t even feel anything. There was a weird sizzling noise and then blinding, agonising pain. His mind blanked, all he could think about was the sharp burning pain in his cheek. He thought he might be screaming but he wasn’t sure._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Eventually Slade pulled the brand away and let it clatter to the floor. Dick panted in relief, trying to curl over, but Slade held him in place, shushing him like he was a grumpy toddler. He tilted Dick’s head to the side to examine the brand better._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Dick whimpered softly. It wasn’t a noise he thought he’d ever made before and if his face wasn’t already on fire, he imagined he would have blushed at it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Slade made a pleased noise and stroked his thumb underneath the burn, close enough that Dick flinched. The smell of burnt flesh was thick and nauseating. Bile rose up his throat and he coughed, swallowed, kind of wanted to throw up right onto Slade’s boots just to spite him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“My mark looks good on you,” Slade murmured, almost as though he was talking to himself. Dick’s stomach flipped. Slade managed to turn him to the side just in time that Dick threw up on the floor instead of him. Damn._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________God. Slade’s mark. He was forever marked as _Slade’s _. Even if he managed to find a way out of this, made it back to his team, back to Batman, a part of him would always belong to Slade.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________His hands came up to cover the mark, but Slade was in the way and so he ended up just gripping onto the mercenary’s wrists, gasping in desperate breaths of sour air._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Slade released him abruptly and he swayed backwards, head swimming. The mercenary watched him for a long moment, his expression unreadable, as Dick gasped, curling forwards to press his overheated forehead against the cool floor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He was _marked _. Branded as Slade’s forever. This was going to _ruin _him. His secret identity would no longer be a secret. It wouldn’t take a genius to work out that Robin and Dick Grayson were one and the same if he was walking around with a huge brand on his face. Would he even be able to hide it? It seemed unlikely. The brand wasn’t exactly small, or subtle._____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Even if he gave up Robin. And _God _he would have to give up Robin. Would have to give up being a vigilante for good. Even then it was going to be hard to explain why Dick Grayson had an S burned into his cheek. The pain spiked as salty tears rolled over the wound. He hadn’t realised he was crying.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The smell of vomit burnt his nose. His face had gone numb, apart from the bright burning mark, like a beacon. Slade stood over him but Dick didn’t raise his head, couldn’t bear to face the older man._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Robin,” his voice was firm, dangerous. It sent a shudder down Dick’s spine. “Get up.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________He didn’t want to. Pressing his forehead hard against the floor until he could feel the pain of it amidst the all consuming pain of his cheek, he shook his head softly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“I won’t ask again.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________It took an almost monumental effort but he pushed himself to his feet shakily, legs trembling in a way that they hadn’t since he’d started as Robin, young and new to the hero business. His vision was blurry, cheeks tacky with drying tears._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________A small satisfied smile curled across Slade’s face. A large hand brushed his hair out of his face, where it had stuck, almost tenderly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“This is a good thing, Robin,” he said softly, like Dick was being unreasonable. Like Dick should be _grateful _that Slade had ruined his life. “No one can doubt your loyalties now.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The urge to scream was overwhelming. The metallic tang of blood filled his mouth, from where he had bitten into his cheek to keep himself in check. The pain of it hadn’t even registered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Slade gave him one last, long look - lingering over the mark on his cheek - before turning and striding away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Oh, and Robin,” he threw over his shoulder, pausing in the doorway. “Make yourself presentable. You’ve got another mission tonight, and I’m sure your...friends will make an appearance.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Dick clenched his hands into fists, trembling with an emotion that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He sunk to his knees once Slade had left and wrapped his arms around himself tightly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Panting softly into the sudden quiet, he struggled to pull himself together. He had to be at his best, had to perform just as Slade wanted. He couldn’t let this break him, couldn’t let this affect him. He had to be Slade’s perfect little soldier._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Compartmentalization. There was no point thinking about what this would mean for Dick in the future. For Robin. As far as Dick knew, this was it. With Slade. Forever._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________He slammed his fist into the floor. No. That wasn’t going to be his future. But it _was _his present. And that was what was important at the moment. His friends were depending on him. He had to get it together for them.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________By the time Slade returned, Dick was ready. Slade looked pleased as Dick met his gaze coolly. He rested a large hand on his shoulder. It would have been fatherly, reassuring, if not for the tight grip of his fingers, the threatening press of his thumb under his collarbone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Slade hummed quietly and then smiled like a shark - all teeth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Time to get to work.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> So it's been a while, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things! Sorry it's a short one :)
> 
> I have a tumblr at [nightwang96](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/nightwang96) if you want to prompt something from my card or just have a chat!


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